Alone At Christmas
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Gabriella Montez was sitting in her cozy, little apartment, with a small fire smoldering in her fireplace. Alone on Christmas Eve. AU, disregards HSM2, Futurefic. Very late for a Christmas fic, but whatever.


**A/N:** I am sorry this is so late, but it took forever to write. It's really not my best. I don't know what to think of it. Next up with me will be an update for a chapter story or a GG, sorry to those HSM readers. Anyway, enjoy. R&R! –Mac

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Alone At Christmas**

Gabriella Montez was sitting in her cozy, little apartment, with a small fire smoldering in her fireplace—_alone_ on Christmas Eve. She had a mug of hot chocolate clutched in her hands, as she let the firelight dance across her face. She stared at her Christmas tree—all lights and beads and baubles—trying to keep herself looking on the bright side and to not let herself believe this was the _worst_ Christmas _ever_. She doesn't know how long she sat staring at her tree, but by the time she pulls herself from trance her hot chocolate has gone cold. She begins to wonder how she got in this situation in the first place, seeing as Christmas was usually such a festive time for her. Then she remembers why she wasn't letting herself think about those things to begin with.

All her friends were either on wonderful, sun-filled, get-me-away-from-the-cold-weather vacations or going home for the holidays. Though Sharpay and Ryan had offered to treat her to a Hawaiian holiday, Gabriella was more of a traditionalist when it came to Christmas. She'd take a White Christmas over a sandy beach any day. Also she hoped by some _miracle_ she'd find someone without plans. Gabriella would have been back in Albuquerque visiting her mother, but her mom had to work the few days before and be back at work the day after Christmas. She would have been too drained to try and keep up with Gabby's Christmas spirit—which by this point had all but deflated entirely. Then there was Troy Bolton, the best friend. However, he was spending the evening with his latest _girlfriend, _although they had only been together for a couple months at most. Gabriella had to suppress her urge to vomit when she thought of the bottle-blonde airhead Troy was dating. She tried to tell herself that it was just her being the overprotective friend looking out for his best interests—and failed _miserably_. True, the girl was all wrong for Troy (just like most of the girls he dated were) but her distaste may have risen from the more than friendly tendencies Gabriella's feelings toward Troy took.

Gabriella shook her thoughts of Troy from her head. She felt bad enough being alone on the biggest holiday of the year; she didn't need unrequited love to be added to her list of grievances. She took her mug into her kitchen and poured it out into the sink. She watched the brown liquid swirl down the drain before turning on the tab to wash out her cup. Drying her hands on her kitchen towel, Gabriella tried to think of something to occupy her time.

Her shoulders sagged as she came up with nothing. What was a person to do on alone on Christmas Eve? Gabriella glanced at the substantial stack of neatly wrapped presents under her tree. If all had gone according to her plans for the holidays, those gifts would have been distributed already. The wrapping tossed carelessly around the room as her friends ooh-ed and awed about her perfect selections. Gabriella would have sat placated, watching, trying to work up the nerve to catch Troy under the sprig of mistletoe she had hung as mere decoration. They would have discussed previous years' antics over eggnog and hot chocolate and maybe sung a few carols along with the radio. However unlikely that fantasy was in the first place, it was better company than the reality Gabriella faced.

Trying to busy herself, Gabriella engaged herself in the task of finding a radio station with relatively good reception that was playing Christmas music. She landed on the opening chords of _The First Noel _and deemed it suitable. She turned from her stereo and surveyed the room—searching for something, _anything_, to do. If she could just find something productive to do with her time, she might be able to forget how lonely she was feeling for a short while.

She hummed along with the song as she fidgeted with some of the ornaments on her tree. She told herself it was to enhance the aesthetic quality—to convince herself she was busy. Once she had repositioned a quarter of her ornaments, she took to rearranging her selection of gifts under the perception that it was to better create space in the room. After those trivial tasks were completed, Gabriella was certain that there was no salvaging the holiday. She resigned herself to the seclusion and collapsed onto her couch.

She could only hope that New Year's would be better. Though she was content to know that she would not be alone, the negative side of her (that she was making itself known more prominently as the day progressed) told her she would still be alone in the fact that she would still be the only one without some form of significant other. Gabriella wondered if that, perhaps, was her problem. If she had someone in her life, she wouldn't be alone at Christmas. She'd be snuggled up in his arms, completely astonished by the gift he had given her, and feeling no where near depressed. She had her eyes closed as she imagined this in her head. A smile found her lips at the scene—unable to fathom why even in this whimsical fantasy, when it could be anyone she wanted, that it was Troy that held her in his arms.

The vision was dispelled abruptly by a knock resounding through her door. Gabriella sat up, a frown etching itself into her face, wondering who it could be. The knock sounded again, slightly more insistent the second time around. Gabriella stood and walked quickly to her door. She peered through her peephole to see who it was, and smiled as she took in the figure at her door. Stepping back, she clicked the lock out of place and pulled the door open.

"Hey Gabby," came the greeting. "Merry Christmas."

Standing in her doorway was her best friend, huddled into himself and shivering slightly. Gabriella immediately hurried him inside, "You're freezing, come on get inside by the fire."

Troy complied and moved past Gabriella further into the apartment. Gabriella closed and locked the door, before following. Troy was hunched over in front of the fireplace, his hands stretched out toward the flames. Gabriella approached him slowly, unable to shake the smile that had appeared on her lips.

When she was standing near him, she spoke, "What are you doing here?"

"Shawna thought it would be fun to cook me dinner." Troy responded straightening up and looking at Gabriella as he spoke.

Gabriella frowned, "That doesn't explain how you ended up on my doorstep."

"She forgot to mention that her parents would be joining us." Troy laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, God." Gabriella cringed.

"Yeah." Troy agreed with her silent admission. "It was _way_ too soon to do the meet-the-parents thing. So I hightailed it out of there and here I am."

"Here you are."

"I felt bad that you were alone, so I figured here would be the best place to come." Troy said, moving to sit on her couch now that he had warmed up.

"I appreciate the company." Gabriella sat next to him. "I was going half insane by myself."

"You, insane? Impossible!" Troy exclaimed and smiled widely, rolling his head back to lean against the back of the couch.

Gabriella loved that smile. She had to fold her hands together in her lap to stop herself from reaching out and brushing the hair out of his eyes—after one of his prior steady girlfriends had convinced him to cut his hair short, it had finally grown back into the length that Gabriella liked on him. Feeling quite uncomfortable with her current train of thought with Troy present and sitting beside her, Gabriella forced herself to laugh lightly and reply.

"I said _half_ insane."

Troy laughed, "_Of course_. The difference is significant."

"Considerably so." Gabriella smiled.

They sat quietly for awhile, neither moving nor making a sound. Gabriella was just glad that there was someone there; she didn't really care to be doing anything active now that she wasn't alone. Besides they were comfortable with each other—a feat they had accomplished long ago. Finally, Gabriella stood and moved toward her Christmas tree. Troy watched her with one eyebrow raised, curious at what she was doing. Gabriella located her gift for Troy amongst the stacks easily. Once she had it in her hands she came back to sit next to him. She passed him the brightly wrapped gift and looked at him expectantly.

"Open it." Gabriella urged.

Troy tore at the paper and carefully set it away in an attempt to not make a mess. He accessed what she had gotten him after he had gotten rid of all the wrapping paper. He smoothed his hand over the cover of the leather-bound album. He hadn't said a word yet, so Gabriella began to explain her choice in gift.

"I know you're more the kind of person for a practical gift, but I thought that just this once I would go for the sentimental." Gabriella replied. "I really hope you like it."

Troy turned to the first page and smiled, "I love it."

"You haven't even looked at it all yet."

"I don't have to." Troy responded, "I know it'll be perfect."

Gabriella had put a lot of time into figuring what to get Troy. It wasn't that it was difficult—she knew him too well to make a bad selection. It was just that his gift had to be perfect. His gift was important—right up there with her Mom's gift. When she had gone shopping, she had come across many items she knew he would love should she get them for him. But each time she had passed on them. Finally she scraped the idea of buying him anything and decided to put together a photo album with all the pictures she had collected over the years of them two and the rest of their friends. A chronicle of sorts from their time at East High to the present. Though it was more of a scrapbook—without all the frills and ruffles—with just a few scribbles of dates and comments. She had been happy with that decision, but wasn't as certain at how Troy would react to it.

Troy put an arm around Gabriella's shoulders as he began to flip through the pages, "Thanks Gabby. This is wonderful."

"Are you sure you like it?" Gabriella asked.

"Of course." Troy nodded, "It's amazing."

Gabriella smiled, "Then I'm glad you like it. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Troy reciprocated, returning her smile. "I have your gift too."

Troy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box. He handed it to Gabriella and she stared at it as she held it in her hand. A box like that usually only housed jewelry, but Gabriella felt she would be a fool to think Troy had bought her jewelry. Jewelry was something reserved for a mother, or a girlfriend—and as Gabriella was neither to Troy, she was surprised at the gift she was holding. Slowly, she ripped off the paper to reveal what was definitely a jewelry box. Before she could get herself to pull off the lid, Troy began to speak.

"When I bought this, I kept telling myself I was buying it for Shawna and then when they asked if I wanted it inscribed…" Troy said, "I was just trying to convince myself that it was for her, because it was the kind of thing I should be buying for her. But I guess I knew it was always supposed to go to you."

Gabriella opened the box and pulled out the bracelet that rested inside. It was a delicate silver chain with a single charm: a flat, silver heart. She pooled it into the palm of her hand so that she could get a closer look at it. On the charm was a short inscription. _With love, T._

Gabriella's eyes widened and shot up to meet Troy's, "Those are heavy words, Troy."

"And they're meant for you."

"But Shawna..."

Troy sighed, his hand reached around to scratch the back of his neck again. "About that…we kinda broke up tonight."

"Kinda broke up or _did_ break up?" Gabriella questioned, feeling an odd mix of concern and elation.

"We broke up." Troy breathed, "I told her I wasn't ready to meet her parents just yet, that it was too soon for that kind of thing. We got in a big fight and finally I just said I was leaving before it got out of hand. I said I would be over here if she needed me, but that just sent her off on another tirade."

"What did she say?" Gabriella responded, letting him tell the story, though a part of her was still focused on the weight of the item in her hand.

"She said that I spent more time with you than her, which is probably true." Troy began. He hesitated a minute before saying the second part but he continued, "She said that you were more important to me than she was and I had to agree with her. You are more important to me. You're one of the most important people in my life, if not _the _most important. So I was honest with her and she told me that it was over, that she couldn't come second or third or fourth for me especially if she was second to a _friend_. It was then that I realized…"

"Realized what?" Gabriella whispered, unable to bring her voice above that volume.

Troy reached out and took hold of Gabriella's wrist with one hand. With his other hand he opened her hand so that he could see the bracelet. "I realized that the words on this bracelet were more true than I had ever thought and they were meant for only you."

"Troy…"

"After I figured that out, I was conflicted. I didn't know if I could face you after that, but I thought it would be a shame for both of us to be alone at Christmas." Troy continued, "And you're usually at your best during the holidays, so what better time to tell you that I love you?"

Gabriella's mouth fell open despite herself, "What?"

Troy took the bracelet from her hand and pulled her wrist closer to him. "I, Troy Bolton," He wrapped the bracelet around her wrist, "love," he closed the clasp, "you," and let it fall in place, "Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella was speechless; she was physically incapable of forcing words from her mouth. She resisted the urge to pinch herself. She was sure what was happening in front of her had to be a dream, but if it was she'd rather let it last. She stared down at the bracelet that was now secured around her wrist. The things Troy had just said to her were on loop in her head. She couldn't find the words to reply. Troy took the silence the wrong way, and there he was scratching the back of his neck yet again. Gabriella would have laughed at the nervous tick if the situation wasn't so serious.

"I'm sorry I just dropped this on you." Troy said quickly, "I shouldn't have…I just…Man, I can't even speak properly…Argh."

Troy stood suddenly, and began to pace back and forth in front of the couch. Gabriella watched him intently—still somewhat in shock, still speechless. He stopped, standing right in front of her, to speak.

"I should have realized it a long time ago. I don't expect you to…I don't even know what I'm saying." Troy started pacing again, but a moment later stopped again. "I just thought I owed it to you to tell you how I feel. I have no expectations. I mean, I hoped that you would feel the same, but I can't really expect to announce that I have feelings for you and then have you just fall into my arms. Am I making any sense?" Troy looked at Gabriella pointedly, his brow furrowed and mouth creased.

"As much as you could, I suppose." Gabriella finally found her voice, and laughed joyfully. After a moment, Troy joined in her laughter.

"Gabby…" Troy murmured, before falling back onto the couch next to her.

"Troy." Gabriella reciprocated. She took a deep breath and smiled, "I love you too, you know."

Troy's eyes widened slightly, "You do?"

"Yeah." Gabriella nodded, "Of all the ways I imagined this happening, I never could have pictured it being like this, I don't know, easy or simple."

Troy let out a breathy laugh, "Speak for yourself, this wasn't easy at all for me. You don't know how hard it was to even get to here."

"I know, it was a real journey figuring out what I felt for you." Gabriella said.

"No, I mean getting _here_, to your apartment. You couldn't imagine how long I stood outside your door before I got up the nerve to knock." Troy shook his head.

Gabriella laughed, unable to come to grips with how silly they had been, "_Unbelievable_."

"I know." Troy nodded, laughing lightly with her.

When the laughter finally subsided, they turned toward each other. Troy reached out a hand to stroke Gabriella's cheek. Gabriella finally allowed herself to brush the hair out of his eyes. She smiled at him as her hand settled on his shoulder. Troy leaned in closer to her, his lips only a small distance from hers. As he made to close the distance, Gabriella shot up off the couch and dashed to the other side of the room. She giggled and stood looking at him coyly. Troy grinned at her playfulness, but raised an eyebrow in question.

Gabriella smiled, "If you want one, you'll have to come and get one." She gestured above her head. "It's tradition."

Troy glanced up at the ceiling above where Gabriella was standing and smiled. He stood and walked over so that he was right in front of her. His hands found her waist and pulled her close. He dipped his head down and captured her lips with his. Gabriella was ecstatic for many reasons. She wasn't alone any longer on Christmas Eve. Her unrequited love was no longer so, it was returned full heartedly.

And that mistletoe had come to good use after all.


End file.
